


We Keep Meeting

by hercdotmulligan



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Kids, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-02
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-10-26 23:18:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10796835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hercdotmulligan/pseuds/hercdotmulligan
Summary: When Burr decides to take Theodosia to Center Parcs for a week’s holiday, he expects a fun, but relaxing week, hoping to make some good memories for his daughter, especially after the death of her mother. What he doesn’t expect is to meet a man with relentless energy, who in one short week, manages to turn his life around.A fluffy Hamburr AU where they keep bumping into each other during their family holidays and the kids quickly become their biggest shippers.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For those who don't know Center Parcs is basically a place (there are many of them around Europe – and I know the characters are all American but let’s just pretend that doesn’t matter for the sake of this fic) where you go and stay and there are lots of cool activities and stuff there as well as a big swimming pool and restaurants ect. Usually people cycle everywhere and there’s only cars around on changeover days. It’s always a super fun family holiday going there.

They hadn’t even made it an hour before Theodosia begged him to take her to the swimming pool. He hadn’t really expected anything less; she was seven years old and filled to the brim with boundless energy, nonetheless he had had some hope of getting at least a half hours rest amongst the chaos. The drive up was just as Burr had expected, chaotic, stressful, and littered with traffic jams and a bored Theodosia. As soon as they arrived, they’d quickly unpacked their car and fetched the bikes before the crowd had a chance to get in. It was then that Burr had expected to be able to take a break, have a nice sit down while Theodosia read one of her books (she was very fond of reading), but instead he was stuck halfway down the water rapids, watching an endless stream of people go past him. The moment he’d pushed himself over the edge he regretted his choice. A relatively narrow stream of slides and flowing water with crowds of children piling onto it, it certainly wasn’t something Burr would consider enjoyable. Nonetheless, when Theo had leapt on without warning, giving him little time to ponder whether it was a good idea or not, he’d quickly followed, hoping to keep her in sight and ensure she wasn’t hurt.

That plan had gone out the window on the first slide, where Theo had zoomed down on her belly like a penguin, and he’d been left desperately pushing himself down, trying to catch up with her while also avoiding becoming a target for the other children shooting down. Now two slides later, and he had no idea how much further was left to go, he’d found refuge in small lagoon, where he could sit out for a while, before plunging himself back into chaos. Although he would have gladly sat there forever, never having to experience that again, he knew Theo would be waiting at the bottom for him, so reluctantly decided it was time to re-enter the chaos.

Waiting for what seemed like a big enough gap, he took a deep breath and stepped back into the flow. No sooner than he’d started moving, he felt a fairly large mass collide into him. It wasn’t a child this time, but an adult, who unlike Burr, looked almost excited to be tumbling down the rapids.

“Oh fiddlesticks!” Burr stifled a laugh at the man’s cursing “I’m sorry for ramming into you.”

“It’s ok, nothing less could be expected from subjecting myself to this hell stream.” A wide smile lit up on the man’s face and he began laughing loudly. Burr carefully scanned his face and couldn’t help but notice how attractive he looked, even with his long hair sticking to his face.

“I’m Alexander Hamilton, by the way.” He extended out his hand. Burr fumbled for a moment, suddenly taken aback. This seemed like a very odd place for greetings.

“Aaron Burr.”

“Nice to meet you Mr. Burr. Now I’d best be going to find my son, Eliza would kill me if I lost him.” With a final smile, he dived back into the rapids and made his way down the slide far more elegantly than Burr had managed on any of the previous slides. Eliza, his wife, of course. Burr wasn’t sure why he felt his heart sink. This was a family resort, so it would be rare to find a single man there, and besides, the large volume of people staying here meant it was unlikely he’d ever see this man again. He was just another attractive stranger that Burr had no chance with, nothing new.

He attempted to push thoughts of Alexander out of his mind as he made his way down the rest of the treacherous rapids. When he reached the bottom, Theodosia was standing, cross armed waiting for him.

“Daddy, you took so long getting down!”

“Sorry Theo. You're just too fast for Daddy to keep up with.” She giggled and smiled proudly.

“It's ok, there was a boy called Philip who was also waiting for his Daddy. He came down just before you did.” Aaron wondered whether Philip was the son Alexander had mentioned. Before he could think about it further, Theo had already started walked away, a little faster than he would have liked. “Come one slow coach! We still have to go to all the slides.”

“I'm coming sunshine, just walk a little slower ok, we don't want you getting hurt on the first day.”

“Fine.” She frowned briefly before the smile returned to her face. She slowed down, which allowed Burr to easily catch up with her. As he followed her, watching her smile grow wider at every new thing she saw, thoughts of Alexander were pushed aside, replaced with excitement for the week ahead. This holiday already seemed to be bringing back her energy, which had been somewhat absent ever since her mother had died. This holiday was for Theodosia and he was going to do everything in his power to make it right for her, and that certainly didn't mean he was going to spend it moping over some attractive man he'd just met.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day Burr was woken by the sound of birds chirping. He almost laughed at how fairytale-like it seemed. Lazily, he pulled himself out of bed and stumbled to the window, pulling the curtains back to reveal the outside looking just as beautiful as it sounded with sunlight dappled on the floor, shining brightly through the trees. He watched as the sunlight danced across the floor, finally starting to realise this holiday certainly was worth all the stress of the previous day. Today’s plan was simple: he’d booked Tree Trekking for the morning and left the afternoon free, expecting to spend the time walking around to get to know the place and a quick trip to the village square to buy some food. Soon he heard Theodosia’s laughter ring through the lodge, awaking him from his daze.

Walking out of his room into the living room, he saw Theodosia sitting by the large glass doors giggling, causing a smile to spread across his face.

“Daddy look! The squirrels are fighting over the pinecone.” He knelt beside her and looked out onto the patio where two little red squirrels seemed to be staring each other down, with a pinecone sitting between them.

“They are,” he chuckled. “Now let’s leave them to have their breakfast while we go and have some of our own.” He gently patted Theodosia’s shoulder. After a final glance at the squirrels, she leapt up and followed him to the kitchen, obediently standing with her arms straight by her side, ready to get her cereal.

The next couple of hours passed quickly, it was now around quarter to ten and Aaron was clipping Theodosia’s helmet on, before allowing her to mount her bike. She had proudly boasted to the bike hire person that she’d just learnt to ride without stabilisers – although it was not without many falls and tears. Once Theo was all geared up, he slipped on his own helmet and unlocked both their bikes.

“Theo, don’t go too far ahead and when you get to a junction wait for me so I can tell you where to go” he reminded her. She nodded quickly, then pushed off and began whizzing down the hill far faster than Burr would have liked. “Be careful!” he called after her, before following on his own bike.

Luckily, they managed to arrive at the Action Challenge centre without injury or wrong turnings, in plenty of time for Tree Trekking to start. Theo’s mouth fell open as she started at the collection of ropes and planks suspended from the trees above.

“Am I going to be climbing on that?” she asked, her voice full of excitement.

“Yes, you are. Let’s go and talk to the instructor so they can make sure you’re not going to get hurt.” But Theodosia seemed to have stopped paying attention to him and her eyes were instead fixed on the entrance of the Action Challenge centre.

“Daddy it’s Philip! Can I go and talk to him please?” Aaron scrunched his brow, trying to recall anyone they might know called Philip. She looked up at him expectantly with her arms folded as he tried to remember who she was talking about. Suddenly the memory of the previous day at the swimming pool returned to him. She’d mentioned talking to a boy called Philip while he was stuck in the rapids with Hamilton. It was something he’d rather not recall, but he supposed it would be good for Theo to have a friend here. 

“Ok, let me lock up the bikes and we’ll go and talk to him.” As soon as he was done, Theo sprinted away towards where Philip stood with a man who’s back was turned and was talking to one of the instructors.

“Philip!” she shouted joyfully, shooting a huge beam at him.

“Theo!” he returned, the smile on his face reflecting hers. Upon hearing his son’s name, the man turned around, locking eyes with Aaron. Though he looked a little different without his hair all sticking to his face, Aaron immediately recognised it as the only an only Alexander Hamilton. Aaron suppressed a groan, it seemed that he wouldn’t just be able to forget about this attractive stranger.

“Well if it isn’t Aaron Burr, Sir!” he said overzealously, giggling at his own rhyme. “I see that our children have already been acquainted.”The two children were already in animated conversation. After only a single day of knowing each other, they already seemed like best friends. Aaron had always marvelled at the way children could approach a situation without all the fears and worries that would be present in an adult.

“It seems so.” He tried to keep his tone light, but not to overly friendly. After all, they were still almost strangers to each other, despite how the children seemed to think.

“I guess you can tell but that’s my son, Philip. He’s eight, but is far beyond his peers in his studies. He’s already fluent in French, and Eliza’s making him an excellent pianist” he bragged, looking at his son with a fiery pride in his eyes.

“He sounds wonderful,” he said with a smile. “That’s my daughter, Theodosia. She’s my whole world. She’s learning latin and violin, and also loves to draw.” He was glad they had quickly found a subject he was comfortable with. Though he didn’t brag as openly as Hamilton did, he loved telling people about the wonderful things his daughter did.

“That’s great! Philip loves to draw too! The other day he drew an amazing-” From the way he spoke, it sounded as if he could have gone on about Philip for hours had they not been interrupted by a woman coughing lightly. Hamilton quickly turned to glance at her and gave her a small smile. “Oh, this is Eliza, Philips mother.”

“Your wife?” he asked, immediately regretting it. Both of them tensed slightly.

“Ex-wife.” Aaron could tell there was much more to it than that, but didn’t want to ask further, having already overstepped his boundaries.

“I’m glad to see Philip is getting on well with your daughter. I often worry he spends too much time focusing on his studies rather than making friends. He’s a little too much like his father in that sense.” Beside her, Hamilton scowled.

“They do seem to have hit it off.” His eyes drifted towards them. Philip now seemed to be pointing at various parts of the course and explaining what you had to do.

“As do you and Alex.” He raised an eyebrow curiously, she seemed to be under a slightly different impression of their current situation than he was. Him and Alexander had barely exchanged fifty words between them. “When we got back from the pool, he couldn’t seem to stop talking about how many things your name rhymed with and how excited he was to see you again so he could use them all.” He turned to Hamilton who was now blushing furiously, surprised that his name had managed to capture his attention.

“There’s just so many possibilities,” he mumbled, narrowing his eyes at Eliza.

“I can’t say the same for you.” Burr had no idea how to react to this situation, this man was an enigma. There was no way to tell what was going on in his brain. Although by the look of pure concentration on his face, he was probably trying to come up with a rhyme for Hamilton.

“Nope, I got nothing. I will though, just you wait” he said, confirming Aaron’s suspicions. The passion in his voice far outstretched the situation.

“Are you and Theodosia doing Tree Trekking?” Eliza asked, an Aaron smiled gratefully at her, glad about a change of conversation.

“Just Theodosia, she’s very excited.”

“Wait, you’re not doing it?” Alexander sounded almost outraged at the prospect. Aaron just shook his head. “But it’s so great. Hey, you can take my place if you want, I’ve done it before.” Aaron was surprised at his sudden burst of selflessness.

“It’s ok, thank you” he dismissed him kindly, not liking the idea of clambering amongst some trees.

“Come on, it’s amazing. There are so many different aspects and a variety of challenges, and if it gets to easy you can always come up with your own little challenges to make it harder. Like, see that row of logs? Try only touching every other one, trust me it’s a lot harder than it looks. Anyway I think you should have the opportunity to try it at least.” His words all came out at once and had Burr not been used to fast paced debates, he would have struggled to keep up.

“If you like so much then shouldn’t you be doing it?”

“I want you to do it though. I’ve done it before, so it won’t be as fun this time around and it wouldn’t be fair for me to do it again when you haven’t even done it once.”

“Didn’t you say you could create your own challenges to make it different?”

“Yes, but that’s beside the point-” He was cut off by Eliza placing her hand on his shoulder.

“Alexander, this man clearly doesn’t want to do it, otherwise he would have booked himself a place, just let it go.” Once again Aaron smiled gratefully at her. She clearly had a lot of experience dealing with Hamilton’s antics. Hamilton looked at Burr, then back at Eliza and after a while of thought, finally conceded.

“Ok, well I guess I’d better go and get geared up. Kiddos time to get your helmet and harness!” The two children both looked up. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep your kid safe.” Hamilton winked at him, before talking the two children over to where they’d get their gear, and leaving Burr frozen to the spot. By the way Theodosia smiled and talked brightly to both Philip and Alexander, it seemed that this certainly would be seeing more of them throughout the holiday. A sighed. If every interaction with Alexander was as exhausting as this one, he was going to be in for a long week.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure both the children are well looked after” Eliza assured him, resting a hand on his arm. He found himself again extremely grateful for her presence. Maybe with her there too, the week might not be so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> poor Burr doesn't know how to deal with all of Hamilton's energy


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no more exams which means hopefully more regular updates :)

Since Theodosia had returned from Tree Trekking, she had not stopped talking about Philip, rambling on about all the cool things he’d told her and how excited he was to let her tell him all the things she’d learnt about sharks in her most recent school project. Being the brightest kid in the year, Theodosia had often struggled to make friends, but it seems she’d found her intellectual match in Philip. Seeing her smile so brightly warmed his heart and he found himself excitedly looking forward to the next time the two families met, which was certainly nothing to do with the prospect of seeing Alexander again, not at all. He’d exchanged numbers with Eliza before departing, promising the children they’d be seeing plenty of each other over the next week.

After a walk around the beautiful lake in the centre of the park and eventually agreeing to get Theodosia an ice-cream after she’d begged for a solid five minutes, they’d walked to the Village Square to get their dinner for the next few days. He hadn’t made a list, hoping that whatever lay along the shelves would inspire him.

“Daddy can we get this?” Theodosia held up the most disgustingly sugary and artificial packet of cereal Aaron had ever seen.

“Theo, you know that’s not good for you.”

“But Daddy! We’re on holiday. We’re allowed to have special treats, remember you said this was going to be a special week,” she reasoned. Aaron sighed, sometimes having such an intelligent seven-year-old could be difficult. Reluctantly he conceded.

“Ok, but remember you won’t be allowed any when we get back home.” She jumped up and squealed, putting it in her own miniature shopping trolley.

Aaron scanned down the ready meals isle in search of something quick they could have on one of their busier days. He’d allowed Theo to go and look at the snack isle to pick something out for herself, and was getting slightly nervous about how long she was taking, an image of her little trolley filled with far too many snacks piled into it forming in his head. Pushing his worries out of mind, he picked up a steak ragu for himself and some macaroni cheese for Theo and turned to place them in the basket.

“Mr Burr, sir!” a now familiar voice exclaimed. “Our meeting seems to recur.” He frowned at himself. “Oh, that didn’t really work. I meant to say we keep meeting but I wanted it to rhyme, and yeah well… good to see you Mr Burr.”

“Please, just call me Aaron.” A strange mixture of disappointment and a smile formed on Alexander’s face.

“But that’s so much harder to rhyme,” he whined.

“Alexander” Aaron said sternly, slightly surprising himself.

“Ok fine, I can do that if you prefer, sir.” Aaron groaned and Alexander looked immensely proud and delighted with himself.

“Mr Hamilton!” Theodosia cried delightedly as she wheeled the trolley around the corner, now not only containing her cereal, but also a large packet of donuts. “Is Philip here?” Alexander crouched down, allowing his eyes to be at the same level as Theodosia’s.

“Sorry little Burr,” he ruffled her hair “Philip’s with his mother, I’m just here own my own to pick up a few bits and bobs.” Aaron glanced at his basket which looked worryingly like Theo’s – fully of the most sugary and unhealthy food you can imagine.

“Aww, can I see him again soon?” she asked, eyes wide. A wide grin spread across Alexander’s face.

“Of course, he can’t wait to spend time with you either.” He stood back up and turned to Aaron. “We’ll have to arrange something tomorrow.” Aaron nodded.

“I’ll text Eliza, let her know when we’re free.” Aaron was sure he imagined it, but Alexander looked almost disappointed.

“Right. Sounds like a plan. So, what are you buying?” he asked, gesturing towards Aaron’s trolley. Aaron’s eyebrows raised slightly, he was surprised Alexander wanted to continue the conversation.

“Just dinner and supplies for the next few days. How about you? Diabetes by the looks of it,” he teased, causing Alexander to scowl.

“I am going to get health stuff too. I just saw all this and it looked really nice and I couldn’t say no.” He paused. “Hey look, healthy” he said grabbing a single apple from the shelf. Aaron let out a small laugh.

“Yes, that’s definitely going to balance out all of that.” He shoved his free hand towards Alexander’s basket. “What’s the rule? Five fruits or vegetables every… month?” Alexander laughed loudly, attracting the attention of many of the shoppers, but around found that he didn’t mind, enjoying the wonderful sound he was producing. Suddenly he remembered Theo was still standing by his side, waiting patiently. He patted her on the shoulder.

“It was nice speaking to you Alexander,” and he really meant it. Contradictory to their earlier conversation he found eased into this one without much thought required, finding himself relaxed in Alexander’s presence. “I should get back to my shopping now, but I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.” Those words caused the beam on Alexander’s face to widen.

“Me too! I’m very excited to spend more time with you, and Theo. Philip will be too.” For a moment, it looked almost as if he was going in for a hug before he pulled his arms back down to his side. “Well goodbye I guess.”

 “Goodbye.” It was almost thirty seconds of somewhat uncomfortable silence before Alexander finally turned away and began shopping again, leaving Aaron still standing in the same spot. What surprised Aaron, was Alexander’s willingness to talk to him, especially after their less than ideal conversation outside Tree Trekking. Perhaps it was just for Philip and Theodosia’s sake, and he didn’t really have an interest in talking to him, it wasn’t as if he had much interesting to say anyway. Theodosia tapped him lightly on the arm, making him realise he’d been staring blankly at the space that Alexander used to be occupying.

“Sorry Theo, let’s get back to shopping now,” he felt bad for making her wait around. She, however didn’t seem phased.

“I like Philip’s daddy, he’s funny. You like him too,” she stated. It was another thing Aaron admired about children, they often got straight to the point without all the waffle surrounding it.

“I do like him,” he admitted. ‘But I don’t know in what way’ he kept the last part to himself. The answer seemed to satisfy Theo, and she skipped along with her trolley, gesturing for Aaron to follow.


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as he’d got back to the lodge and unpacked his shopping, he noticed a notification on his phone, a text from Eliza.

_Hey Aaron! I hope you and Theodosia are having fun. Philip can’t stop talking about her and is really excited to see her again. Are you free tomorrow. We could take the children cycling, maybe stop off to get ice cream on the way. – Eliza x_

He’d shot back a reply letting her know they were free and that sounded like a wonderful plan, announcing the plans to Theodosia who took them with a huge amount of joy. She was so excited that when bedtime came around she was still restless.

“We’re going to see Philip tomorrow! It’s that awesome? We’ll get to cycle together. I bet I can beat him in a cycling race, do you think I can beat him daddy?” She said without taking a single breath between. She was perched on the end of her bed, refusing to lie down.

“We’ll have to see tomorrow, but for now you need to get off to sleep otherwise tomorrow will never come around.”

“But daddy! I’m too excited to sleep. Aren’t you excited to see Philip’s daddy?” she asked, eyes wide. Perhaps she had caught onto Aaron’s feelings a little more than he’d originally thought.

“Just remember how you usually sleep when you’re excited, like on Christmas.”

“But Mummy’s not here to sing the song” she whispered. Her eyes fell down to her hands and her head drooped. Aaron’s heart sank, remembering the beautiful lullaby Theodosia used to sing to little Theo when she had trouble speaking.

“I know sweetie, but remember the other things she taught you, like counting sheep, or imagining all the stars thinking of all the shapes you can make with them.”

“Can I count the sheep in Latin?” Aaron chuckled.

“Of course, you can count them in any language you want.”

“What about French? Philip taught me how to say some things in French, although he only got up to three then he fell off the log. The harness caught him though so he was ok.”

“You’ll have to ask him for the rest of the numbers tomorrow, but for now try to get to sleep, that way it will come quicker.” Finally, Theo lay down on the bed and allowed Aaron to pull the covers over her. “Good girl.” He planted a kiss on her forehead, before leaving the bedroom, hoping she’d manage to get to sleep on her own.

-

The next morning he wasn’t surprised when he woke up to Theo jumping up and down beside his bed, having torn the covers off him.

“Hey Theo, what are you doing?” he grumbled.

“Waking you up obviously.”

“What’s the time?”

“Seven thirty. I’ve been awake for ages though, but you said I had to wait to wake you up so I did, but now it’s seven thirty and I’m waking you up.” She was correct, at the beginning of the holiday, Aaron had instructed her that she wasn’t to wake him until at least seven thirty each morning – he needed this week as much as she did.

“I’m just getting up, how about you go and get your bowl out ready for breakfast.” She nodded and rushed out the room with a huge amount of energy, despite getting less sleep than usual the previous night. When Aaron emerged from his room, Theo had already set up all the breakfast stuff, besides the things she couldn’t reach and was waiting standing by the table. It was still around two and a half hours until he’d arranged to meet the Hamilton-Schuyler family, and he wondered how he was going to get through it without Theodosia literally bursting with excitement.

By no small miracle, the next two hours passed uneventfully, and they set out to arrive at their arranged meeting spot. They were almost ten minutes early, so Aaron expected to wait a while before Alexander, Eliza and Philip arrived, but to his surprise when they arrived they were already standing waiting. Eliza seemed to be playing some sort of game with Philip, while Alexander watched fondly, a beautiful smile on his face. Aaron locked up his and Theo’s bike

“Aaron!” Alexander said at the same time as Philip shouted “Theo!” The two children ran into each other’s arms and it looked almost as if Alexander was considering doing the same.

“It’s good to see you Aaron” Eliza said, keeping her eyes on the children.

“It’s good to see you too.” He looked at both Alexander and Eliza. “I’m sorry to keep you waiting.”

“It’s no problem, it’s my fault anyway. Philip was so excited and I was paranoid about being late so we ended up getting here way earlier than we arranged.”

“Well now we’re all here, how about we get going,” Eliza suggested. Aaron and Alexander nodded in unison. “Philip, go and get your bike and make sure your helmet is on tight. We wouldn’t want to getting hurt in the middle of the holiday” she instructed.

“You too Theo, especially if you want to go fast.” Theo nodded determinedly.

“I am going to go fast. I’m going to be the fastest!”

“Oh no you won’t. I’ll be faster!” Philip taunted.

“First to get their bike wins!” With that declaration, they both zipped off to their bikes. Eliza followed Philip, leaving Aaron and Alexander alone.

“How about we have a little race of our own?” Alexander winked, making Aaron slightly uncomfortable.

“No.”

“But…”

“No way.”

“Why not?”

“I’d much rather have a pleasant ride than tumbling down the road at speeds I can’t control.”

“Boring. I guess I’ll just have to join the children.” He pouted, before running to his bike, just as fast as the children had. Aaron shook his head. How did Alexander have so much energy? Despite his exasperation, he couldn’t help but smile as he watched Alexander interact with Theo and Philip, matching their energy and enthusiasm. Lost in his thoughts he forgot he was meant to be moving, his feet remaining rooted to the spot until he heard Theo calling for him.

“I’m coming darling. You can go with Philip, I’ll catch up.”

It wasn’t long before he was able to catch up. It seemed that despite their determination to go as fast as possible, their progress was stunted by their frequent twists and turns and stops for debates as to who was going the fastest. Surprisingly Alexander was hanging back, not engaging in the children’s antics as Aaron had thought he would.

“What took you so long?” Alexander teased. Aaron felt his cheeks heat up, grateful that his skin disguised a blush. There was no way he was going to admit he’d taken so long because he was preoccupied staring at Alexander. Instead he opted for a shrug. “Well now you’re here, how about a little race?” He looked hopeful.

“The answer is still no.” Alexander frowned, but instead of zooming ahead, he maintained his pace, keeping beside Aaron and talking non-stop about topics ranging from the country’s financial situation to the squirrel that crossed the path in front of them. Aaron listened, taking in every word and admiring how beautifully his sentences flowed into one another, somehow forming a cohesive narrative, even when the topic switched halfway through each sentence. It seemed like no time at all had passed when they pulled up in the bike park beside the sort of beach at the side of the lake where the ice cream stall was. There they joined Eliza in the queue, who had arrived just before them with Philip and Theo by her side.

“That was a nice ride,” Alexander said, focusing his attention on Aaron. He nodded in agreement.

“Maybe for you after you abandoned me with two hyperactive children.” Aaron’s eyes widened. He’d been so captivated by Alexander, he’d forgotten about poor Eliza.

“I’m so sorry. That wasn’t my intention. I-” What looked almost like a smirk started to appear across Alexander’s face as he apologies profusely. He felt like there was something going on here he wasn’t getting.

“I was just teasing. I love children. I work in an orphanage so I’ve got plenty of experience dealing with kids.” Alexander looked as if he was trying to hold back a laugh as relief flooded over Aaron. His efforts only lasted about ten seconds before he burst out laughing.

“I’m sorry, but you just looked so worried. Like someone had discovered a dead body in the trunk of your car or something” he said between laughs. Half disturbed at Alexander’s choice of comparison and half annoyed at his teasing, he simply returned the laughter with a glare. Electing to ignore Alexander, Aaron turned to Theodosia and asked what ice cream she’d like. She perused the menu before settling on the mint chocolate chip with sprinkles and a flake.

“What about you daddy?”

“I bet Aaron gets something super boring like vanilla.” Alexander just had to burst his way into the conversation. In fact, Aaron’s favourite ice cream flavour was chocolate, which he usually preferred plain, but just to spite Alexander, he decided to get the most obnoxious ice cream on the menu: double cone, one scoop of chocolate, one scoop of toffee, topped with sprinkles and popping candy, then a flake inserted into each scoop. He smiled proudly at Alexander’s wide eyes as he listed off his order. He handed his ice cream to Theo, telling her to keep it safe and pulled his wallet out of his pocket ready to pay, but he was stopped by Eliza’s hand on his arm.

“Let me pay, a little treat for the kids” she said, smiling fondly at them. Suddenly Aaron felt bad for ordering such a ridiculous and more expensive ice cream than usual.

“It’s fine, I’ll pay” he said, but Eliza didn’t let go of her arm.

“Just let her pay” Alexander told him. “It may not seem so at first, but Eliza’s stubborn. She will get her way eventually so there’s not much point resisting.” He winked at Eliza as he finished the sentence, causing her to giggle.

“Ok, fine” he conceded, returning the wallet to his pocket.

“I’ll keep an eye on the children, you two can finish the conversation you were having all the way here.” There was something suggestive in Eliza’s tone, but he chose to ignore it. For a moment, he thought about offering to look after the children giving her a break since she’d done it on the way here, but before he had a chance she was gone, and he couldn’t deny he like the idea of spending more time with Alexander, knowing Theodosia was in good hands. Alexander found a spot along the wall and sat down, inviting Aaron to join him. From there they could see Theo and Philip playing by the lake shore, having already finished their ice creams. Eliza seemed to be joining in with their game, the two children bursting out with laughter as she jumped out the way when the water almost lapped over her shoes.

“She’s great, isn’t she? Always seems to know what to do with kids. I mean the miracles she works with all the kids at the orphanage are amazing” Alexander said so fondly that Aaron almost found it hard to believe they we’re still together.

“She seems wonderful. Theodosia rarely smiles so widely around strangers, especially since her mother passed.” Just at that moment Theo laughed loudly as Philip’s shoe was engulfed by a wave.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. It must be hard looking after her on her own. I’m so thankful I have Eliza. I don’t think I could do it on my own to be honest.” Aaron thought back to the first few weeks after Theodosia had died, his own grief, Theo’s tears and nightmares, the feeling of his world crashing around him and it seemed like he’d never be able to go on. Yet, here he was. Getting here hadn’t been easy but all that mattered was that they made it and things seemed to be heading on an upwards path.

“We managed.” He paused, a question clawing at the back of his mind. “What happened between you and Eliza? You still seem very close.”

“I was a shitty husband. She’d had enough and broke it off. I was devastated at the time, but honestly, I think it was for the best. We’re both happier now and I wouldn’t have wanted Philip growing up with his parents always arguing.” Curiosity itched Aaron’s head. Sure, Alexander was a little over the top something, but Aaron couldn’t imagine him being that bad.

“You don’t seem that bad” he probed instead of straight up asking, which would seem a little rude.

“Trust me I was. I was dealing with a lot and my family suffered because of it. Not that that’s any excuse for what I did.” Alexander’s words only pushed Aaron’s curiosity further. Alexander gave a sort of morbid laugh. “I guess you want to know what I’m talking about now?” Aaron shrugged. His mind was screaming yes but he didn’t want to push Alexander. They’d only known each other a few days after all.

“Only if you want to tell me” he said cautiously.

“Well I’ve told you that much, I may as well continue.” Alexander gave the same morbid laugh as before. It sounded so different from the beautiful, joyful one the day before. His hands started fidgeting and Aaron was about to tell him to forget it, he clearly didn’t seem comfortable talking about it, when he began to speak.

“About six months after Philip was born, my best friend was murdered – shot by some asshole who never should have had a gun in the first place, and well… I didn’t cope well. I just, I thought after everything, I’d finally build a good life for myself. I had a great job, the best friends anyone could ask for, the best wife, a beautiful son whose smile was brighter than the morning sun. I was on top of the world. I felt invincible then suddenly one person just came and ripped John away from me.” Alexander’s hands were now visibly shaking and his eyes were watery, tears threatening to fall down his face. Aaron was stunned by his admission, unable to come up with the words to comfort Alexander. Uncertainly, he reached his hand forwards and placed it on Alexander’s, smiling slightly when the shaking calmed. “John was so excited to meet Philip. He would have been there when he was born, but his mother was sick, he had to go down to South Carolina to be with his family. I never knew what happened to his mother. His family never approved of the sort of friends he made, so after his death I heard nothing from them.” He shook his head as a tear rolled down his cheek. The people surrounding them gave a strange look in their direction, but had the decency not to make any comments. Alexander didn’t seem to notice these glances, or if he did, he didn’t care. “Well as I said, I didn’t cope well. I was a terrible husband. I was a terrible father. I couldn’t bear to spend time with my friends or family, knowing John should have been there. So, I pushed myself into my work, taking on as much as I could and every moment I wasn’t at work I spent writing an article on gun control. I couldn’t let what happened to John happen to anyone else.” As Alexander told his story, Aaron felt an odd sense of familiarity hearing his words. Suddenly it clicked and his eyes widened with the realisation. Alexander seemed to notice the shift in his expression. “Shit sorry, that’s too much. You hardly know me, you don’t want all my stupid emotional baggage being unloaded on you. Sorry, I just get carried away, never know when to stop speaking. Shit, I’m doing it again sorry.”

“Alexander.” Aaron tightened his grip on Alexander’s hand. “It’s not that, just you’re Publius, aren’t you?” Publius was a journalist, most commonly writing angry political rants on every topic imaginable, which Aaron often enjoyed reading. He remembered a particularly emotional one on gun control, published sometime soon after Theo was born. The way Alexander’s eyes widened confirmed Aaron’s suspicions.

“You read my articles?” he said in a somewhat hushed tone.

“Yes, they’re very insightful, bring up a lot of interesting points.”

“Oh.. uh thank you.” Alexander’s cheeks reddened. They now matched the colour of his eyes which were puffy from tears. He looked like a bit of a mess, a very cute mess.

“Daddy!” Aaron turned to the source of the shout, seeing Theo, Eliza and Philip heading towards them, the children leading. “Daddy are you ok?” Philip asked as soon as he was close enough to see his face. “Did Mr. Burr make you cry?” He held his fists up, looking as if he was ready to fight Aaron right there, despite the clear size difference between the two. Theo looked in concern at her new friend, as if she was unsure of what side to choose if a fight did break out. Alexander pulled Philip up into a hug with one of his arms.

“No, Mr. Burr’s actually just comforting me.” He shot a smile at Aaron and looked down at their hands which were still linked. Aaron suddenly felt awkward holding hands with a man he barely knew, his family watching, but Alexander seemed happy about the situation so he didn’t let go.

“Then why are you crying?”

“I just miss John. Do you remember what I told you about him?” Alexander asked softly. Philip nodded.

“That he was the bravest man who ever lived and when I grow up I’m going to be just like him.” Pride glowed from Philip’s face as he said it.

“That’s right. You’re so brave Philip, and I love you so much. You know that, right?” He cupped Philip’s face in his hands.

“Of course, you tell me all the time. Can we cycle back now? My feet got wet and now they’re uncomfortable.”

“Silly boy,” Alexander chuckled. Philip pouted as Theo laughed at him. “I guess we’d better get back then.”

“Race you back to the bikes!” he said to Theo, already forgetting his wet feet. As the kids ran off, Eliza crouched by Alexander and took his other hand.

“How are you doing?”

“I’m fine.” He forced a smile onto his face.

“I know how much you still miss him.”

“Yeah…” His eyes darted away and he began fidgeting again. Instinctively Aaron started rubbing the back of his hand, like he would when Theo was sad about her mother. “Aaron helped.”  Eliza glanced at Aaron then nodded.

“I’m glad. Have you asked him about this evening yet?” Before Aaron had the chance to wonder what she was talking about, Alexander swivelled to face him, an excited look on his face.

“Oh yeah! We’re having a barbeque this evening and I was wondering if you and Theo would like to join us. We have plenty of food. I may have severely overestimated how many sausages we’d need and we’d love to have you both, if you want obviously.”

“Sounds good.”

“Really?” Alexander sounded surprised Aaron had accepted the offer, causing both him and Eliza to chuckle.

“Yes, I always love barbeques and Theo wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to spend more time with Philip.”

“Ok great, we’re at lodge eight five four. You can come at around five thirty if that’s ok, then we can eat at about six.”

“I’ll see you then.”

“Awesome!” Alexander smiled widely, leaving Aaron feeling warm inside.

“One more thing,” Aaron said before he got up. “You seem like an excellent father to me.”

“Trust me, you haven’t hear the worst yet” Alexander replied darkly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so here's some backstory stuff and Alexander and Aaron interacting some more so hope you enjoyed

**Author's Note:**

> This was a really short chapter - just a kinda intro, the next one should be longer and (spoiler!!) they meet again and we get to see what's going on with Alex and Eliza.


End file.
